Weird and Religious
Among the ancient Maya, human sacrifice was tied to astronomy and kingship. Captured rulers or nobles could be sacrificed during major calendar events. Blood was seen as sacred nourishment for the gods, linking political power, timekeeping, and violence in a single religious act.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2020, Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. Islamist Muslim insurgents attacked villages, beheaded civilians, and displaced thousands. The group justified violence as jihad to establish Islamic rule, punish those cooperating with the state, and cleanse society of un-Islamic influence.
Fact
In Taoism, rituals and deities appear in religious forms of the tradition, and Taoism includes temples, offerings, and spiritual beings in many communities.
Common flaws
The Qur’an, the Bible, and the Torah are often treated as fundamentally different, but their flaws are remarkably similar. Each reflects the social structure of its time. Each encodes power relations. Each demands submission. Each resists scrutiny. Each claims perfection while requiring armies of interpreters to explain away its failures. If these books were presented today without their sacred status, they would be rejected as the products of their era, not revelations from beyond it.
Quote of the day
“Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear.” Bertrand Russell.
Ask the right question
If the universe shows no clear sign of purpose in its vast empty regions, why assume human life is its central goal?
Religious Crooks
Cho Hee-sung, leader of a South Korean religious group sometimes called the Victory Altar, was convicted of fraud and also faced allegations of sexual misconduct tied to his position as a messianic figure within the movement.
For more information, google the name.
That was just a tiny case in a vast ocean of religious crooks.